Get Off the Couch Workout

I’ve been a victim of couch-suck the last few days. Couch-suck is the number one killer of any workout plan. I know it’s the number one killer of mine. You see, I’m a sucker for sitcoms. Right now the devils who run programming are showing back to back episodes of The Big Bang Theory five nights a week. I’ve come late to The Big Bang Theory, so what are repeats for most people, are fresh new episodes to me. And I keep finding myself flipping on the tv “for a minute” and getting sucked into an hour of butt-on-couch tv watching when I should be working out. So, in an effort to save myself, I created the Get Off the Couch workout. A workout I can do WHILE I watch The Big Bang Theory.

Here’s the Get Off the Couch Workout plan:

TV Show (including credits): While the tv show is playing do something aerobic.

Run in place. Jump rope. Do jumping jacks. Bounce on a rebounder. Just keep moving the entire time.

Commercials: Once the commercials start grab the dumb bells. (If you don’t have dumb bells – do the body weight version or grab a couple of water bottles or soup cans).

Rotate between the following Get Off the Couch Workout exercises doing 15-25 reps each.

Squat with a Bicep Curl at the bottom.High/Low PlankDumb Bell RowLunge with a Triceps Kickback.

Once the show starts, put down the weights and go back to the jogging, jumping, etc. When the commercials start again, pick up where you left off with the weights workout.

I do this Get Off the Couch Workout for at least one entire television show (30 minutes). If you’re feeling good – or if your show runs an hour, you can go longer.

An alternative to this Get Off the Couch Workout that I do some days is a Pandora workout. I launch the Pandora app on my IPAD and pick a station with some rocking tunes (80’s Hairbands are always fun) then I run the same type of rotation as above – changing with each song. I go for however long I have time for – anywhere between 10 minutes and 40 depending on the day.

I’ve found that these Get off the Couch workouts are especially useful on days when I don’t really want to workout – the days couch-suck is a real threat. They are fun enough to get me up (especially since I can still watch my favorite show) and varied enough to keep me engaged.

I’d love to know what you think of the Get Off the Couch Workout – or share your favorite method for beating couch-suck in the comments section below.

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